Ohio Legislature OKs bill on jobs and tourism

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Legislature has cleared a bill to establish a state tourism advisory board and fine tune elements of a new private job-creation entity called JobsOhio.

The measure passed the House on Wednesday, and the Senate agreed to its changes. It now heads to the governor.

The bill would rename the Ohio Department of Development as the Ohio Development Services Agency. The change comes as part of the transfer of economic development duties from the department to JobsOhio. The privatization effort has left the development department smaller than it was a year ago.

The bill would create the TourismOhio Advisory Board to advise the agency’s director on tourism.